European Court to consider case of oppositionist arrested in Azerbaijan as a matter of urgency
The case of Gubad Ibadoglu
The European Court of Justice will consider the case of opposition politician and economist Gubad Ibadoglu arrested in Azerbaijan on an urgent basis owing to the accused’s health. Meanwhile, his relatives are banned from leaving the country.
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On September 5, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in accordance with Rule 39 of the Rules of Court adopted temporary interim measures in the case of Azerbaijani opposition activist and economist Gubad Ibadoglu. The ECHR decision was made on the basis of the defense’s appeal against the refusal to transfer Ibadoglu to house arrest due to a sharp deterioration of his health, as reported by his brother Galib Bayramov.
The ECHR ordered the Azerbaijani government to take immediate measures to ensure the protection of Ibadoglu’s health and inform the Strasbourg Court.
“ICRC staff are not allowed in.”
It is noted that employees of the Red Cross are not allowed to visit Ibadoglu, who is being held in Baku pre-trial detention center N 1.
“We appealed to the ICRC to visit Gubad, and they came to the pre-trial detention center three times, but they were not allowed in under various pretexts,” Bayramov said. Now the ICRC has appealed directly to the Prison Service.
Meanwhile, Red Cross representatives met with Galib Bayramov. They said they need to see Ibadoglu to assess his health. They also need the results of an ultrasound examination and an echocardiogram.
However, the Justice Ministry’s General Medical Directorate refuses to provide the results of the examinations and tests.
My brother is losing health at an appalling rate in the pre-trial detention center, and the Ministry of Justice is not solving the issue of issuing documents on his condition,” Bayramov said.
“Relatives have been banned from leaving the country.”
Meanwhile, relatives of the arrested politician were banned from leaving the country. According to Galib Bayramov, the ban affected all relatives except for MP Vugar Bayramov – the younger brother of Gubad.
The ban was also imposed on relatives who do not bear the surname Bayramov.
“The ban is being imposed by the Interior Ministry. It is illegal, as the ban can be applied only to those who are named as defendants in a criminal case,” Galib Bayramov said.
What happened?
On July 23, Gubad Ibadoglu, chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity Movement, was detained by officers of the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime. He was charged under Article 204.3.1 of the Criminal Code (if an organized group committed the manufacture, acquisition or sale of counterfeit money or securities).
According to information released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one of the four people detained in the course of a special operation related to FETÖ (an organization declared terrorist in Turkey, whose head, Fathullah Gülen, is a preacher living in Pennsylvania, USA), had links with Ibadoglu which led to his prosecution.
Searches were carried out in his office, apartment, and dacha. On July 24, the Narimanov District Court of Baku city sentenced the opposition politician to three months and 26 days of arrest.
Ibadoglu pleads not guilty and links his arrest to political activities.
Two weeks later, Turkish law enforcement officers detained and handed over to the Azerbaijani government another economist, Fazil Qasimov, who lives and works in Istanbul. According to official information, he was arrested in the case of Gubad Ibadoglu and he was also charged with a similar charge under article 204.3.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
